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Le Tour 2017 - who'll be mellow in yellow?


Bud the Baker

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49 minutes ago, mcdowell76 said:

I have run a couple of marathons but although I do a lot of cycling, never a cycling race.

I think its an interesting debate. I don't believe that you would be able to run a marathon at all out race pace every day for 3 weeks. I reckon the pace would need to drop substantially. You also don't really get the drafting effect in running (albeit they did in the Nike sub 2 hour effort but using runners and a car with a big fecking clock!).

Agree about footballers. Lack of fitness and effort is probably why so many kids in Scotland with talent never make it.

You need to be a top pro to even enter the Tour and even then many dont make it to the finish because they get ill ,fall off or are time eliminated . Chris Boardman only finished one Tour out of 3 . To do what Froome can do takes super human qualities , some of which he was born with no doubt. .

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2 hours ago, saintnextlifetime said:

You need to be a top pro to even enter the Tour and even then many dont make it to the finish because they get ill ,fall off or are time eliminated . Chris Boardman only finished one Tour out of 3 . To do what Froome can do takes super human qualities , some of which he was born with no doubt. .

Don't disagree.

The top marathon runners are top pros as well mind. And the top guys are only really capable of running 1 or 2 a year.

I think that a marathon at all out marathon pace takes far more out of you than cycling a stage of the Tour.

As I said though, if there was an equivalent Tour type race in running though, that pace would need to come down substantially. Tour stages aren't all out efforts all the way through, albeit the attacks are probably at a greater effort than marathon pace effort.

That's why I don't really think you can equate tour stages to marathons. Apples and oranges.

 

Edited by mcdowell76
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1 hour ago, mcdowell76 said:

Don't disagree.

The top marathon runners are top pros as well mind. And the top guys are only really capable of running 1 or 2 a year.

I think that a marathon at all out marathon pace takes far more out of you than cycling a stage of the Tour.

As I said though, if there was an equivalent Tour type race in running though, that pace would need to come down substantially. Tour stages aren't all out efforts all the way through, albeit the attacks are probably at a greater effort than marathon pace effort.

That's why I don't really think you can equate tour stages to marathons. Apples and oranges.

 

Yes as already mentioned , in the first couple of hours most days , I could probably hang onto the bunch as long as they didn't expect me to do a turn at the front of the bunch . :PSo yes they are not flat out all day even though average speeds have been rising in recent Tours . You only had to see the furious pace they were doing up the Galibier today to realise the effort going in . Wee Bardet put in some good attacks but I don't know if he is yet good enough to beat Froome and of course Uran is now firmly in the mix . Looked like wee Berti was going for it again. .-_-

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Guest TPAFKATS
I wonder why Froome did absolutely nothing significant in his career until he was 26? Maybe a late bloomer like Mo Farah? [emoji23]

Turned pro at 22, joined sky 3 years later. Bit late to turn pro, although I hink he was still in Kenya or South Africa studying?
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18 hours ago, mcdowell76 said:

Don't disagree.

The top marathon runners are top pros as well mind. And the top guys are only really capable of running 1 or 2 a year.

I think that a marathon at all out marathon pace takes far more out of you than cycling a stage of the Tour.

As I said though, if there was an equivalent Tour type race in running though, that pace would need to come down substantially. Tour stages aren't all out efforts all the way through, albeit the attacks are probably at a greater effort than marathon pace effort.

That's why I don't really think you can equate tour stages to marathons. Apples and oranges.

 

check what it does to an average riders legs 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/07/19/cant-healthypolish-cyclist-pawel-poljanskis-photo-reveals-ravages/

Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski posted this picture of his legs on Instagram

 

A picture is often described as worth a thousand words and that idiom has never been truer than the image shared by Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski.

A thesis could be written on the rigours of the Tour de France, but Poljanski's photo, showing legs riven with veins that look poised to burst and skin frazzled by the sun, says it all.

"After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired," the cyclist wrote on Instagram alongside the picture.

Dr Bradley Launikonis, from the University of Queensland's School of Biomedical Science, explained what happens to the legs during long-distance cycling.  

"The amount of blood that we get normally going down to our legs is five litres per minute, for anyone at rest. For an untrained athlete, their maximum exercise will have 20 litres per minute flowing through the muscles," he told the ABC.

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4 hours ago, Hoof Hearted said:

check what it does to an average riders legs 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/07/19/cant-healthypolish-cyclist-pawel-poljanskis-photo-reveals-ravages/

Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski posted this picture of his legs on Instagram

 

A picture is often described as worth a thousand words and that idiom has never been truer than the image shared by Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski.

A thesis could be written on the rigours of the Tour de France, but Poljanski's photo, showing legs riven with veins that look poised to burst and skin frazzled by the sun, says it all.

"After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired," the cyclist wrote on Instagram alongside the picture.

Dr Bradley Launikonis, from the University of Queensland's School of Biomedical Science, explained what happens to the legs during long-distance cycling.  

"The amount of blood that we get normally going down to our legs is five litres per minute, for anyone at rest. For an untrained athlete, their maximum exercise will have 20 litres per minute flowing through the muscles," he told the ABC.

What you are looking at there is an almost total absence of fat and about as low a level of hydration as it is possible to sustain without fainting.  2 centimetres below the surface, my legs look proably look the same.

 

still not the worst case of varicose veins I have encountered.

Edited by beyond our ken
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This is brilliant

Tour de Pharmacy, I downloaded it and watched it last night.  Its a short HBO mockumentary

and lance armstrong is in it ripping the piss out of the tour de france drug problems

 

available for streaming here

https://fmovies.is/film/tour-de-pharmacy.oj145/zq349m

 

Edited by Hoof Hearted
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Respect to Froome who has proved himself master of this race once again, and not just as a time trailer - he has only lost ground to two riders, Uran & Bardet going H2H out on the road. 

The key stages, as always, were in the mountains

  • Stage 9 where Aru helped Froome chase down Bardet even allowing Froome to collect a time bonus :wacko: and removing any pressure that might have been on him (Froome) had Bardet got 20/30 seconds plus the time bonus from the stage. Essentially allowed Froome/Sky to stick to their usual tactics for the remainder of the race.
  • Stage 12 where Froome cracked going up that final crazy climb - thankfully for him it was only about 1km.
  • Stage 17 where after puncturing Froome lost about 45 secs to the other GC contadors (sic) but he was just able to get back up to the group before the descent and save his yellow jersey.

Congratulations to the big man - Mr. Vroom Vroom Froome! :clapping

***************************

Will he repeat last year and try for a Tour/Vualta double - he only lost it last year when he & Sky got caught napping on a short mountain stage by wee Bertie :wolf. As long as Froome stays on his bike he'd have to be the favourite unless the organizers have included a couple of vertical finishes.

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Another stage yesterday that made great viewing , good to see Boasson Hagen finally get the stage win he has been waiting for with a great acceleration to drop Arndt who , ironically had flicked his arm for Boasson Hagen to come to the front^_^ . It does still look good for Froome to win the GC with someone like Toni Martin to win the TT stage . With Froome set to be last man off that should be a big enough advatage for him to beat his immediate rivals . .

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1 hour ago, SBS said:

He's just been warming up to win the Sprint on the Champs tomorrow!!emoji13.png

 

I think it is more likely that he is warming up for the Vuelta de Espana. .

As far as winning a stage is concerned , he didn't need to , I think his recovery after he got a puncture was more remarkable than a stage win . Froome is the first British rider to win more than one Tour , that is remarkable also considering how long it took Britain to achieve that. .

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How much of being a champion is down to self-belief?

The gap between Froome & Uran was 54 seconds - 52 of those were dropped in the opening stage, a 9 mile TT. If Uran who is a decent time trialist when he's motivated had finished 8th in the opening stage like he did in the second TT the final gap would've been 6 seconds. In that case who knows - bears thinking about if your a statto or a nutter! :spud5

In the end though I suppose it's all a bit if your Arunty had balls she'd be Urancle...............:whistle

Edited by Bud the Baker
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19 minutes ago, Bud the Baker said:

How much of being a champion is down to self-belief?

The gap between Froome & Uran was 54 seconds - 52 of those were dropped in the opening stage, a 9 mile TT. If Uran who is a decent time trialist when he's motivated had finished 8th in the opening stage like he did in the second TT the final gap would've been 6 seconds. In that case who knows - bears thinking about if your a statto or a nutter! :spud5

In the end though I suppose it's all a bit if your Arunty had balls she'd be Urancle...............:whistle

 Think if we are going down the stat route we need to consider also , the 1 second gap between Wee Bardet and Landa . .

 

. .yeh , what if indeed. .

 

Also , well done to the Sunweb team who won two of the jerseys , a team that happen to have a jersey that is the closest thing to a Saints strip in the entire peloton. .^_^

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2 hours ago, saintnextlifetime said:

 Think if we are going down the stat route we need to consider also , the 1 second gap between Wee Bardet and Landa . .

 

. .yeh , what if indeed. .

 

Also , well done to the Sunweb team who won two of the jerseys , a team that happen to have a jersey that is the closest thing to a Saints strip in the entire peloton. .^_^

Yeah, word is Landa is going to move to Movistar which is a great move if he's going to be allowed to be team leader in one of the major Tours.

Finishing fourth as a domestique is a great achievement and if he'd been a bit more selfish he could easily have made the podium, again it's a question of "what if" but I thought the organizers were a bit harsh not giving him the same time as the first three on Stage 13 - important 2 seconds worth a podium place.

At 27 he's the right age to be moving up a level, que sera..............

Edited by Bud the Baker
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1 minute ago, Bud the Baker said:

Yeah, word is Landa is going to move to Movistar which is a great move if he's going to be allowed to be team leader in one of the major Tours.

Finishing fourth as a domestique is a great achievement and at 27 he's the right age to be moving up a level.

Que sera..............

Yeh , Landa is set to become the next Riche Porte , good on him he is obviously an exceptional climber and can hold his own in the TT, the makings of a Tour winner. .

 

Que sera....indeed. .

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